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Everything you need to know about Top Gear magazine's annual festival of fast… including how we went green(er) in 2023 Speed Week is Top Gear magazine's annual performance car of the year test. A gathering of the greatest fast cars launched within the last 12 months, brought together in one place (this year it’s the Gotlandring track in Sweden, but it could be anywhere in the world) for a week of road and track testing, photography and video production and very little sleep. The goal is to separate the great from the merely good and, eventually, pick an overall winner. Whereas other publications might be laser focused on lap times and performance figures, our judging process is more… organic. We’re looking for all-round ability of course, hence the road and track elements, but the criteria is simple – the winner is the one that brings us the most joy, which is what allows a £300k supercar to compete on a level playing field with a £30k hot hatch. This year we posed ourselves an additional question: “Could we make Speed Week a low-carbon event, without compromising on the, y’know, speed?” What followed was a crash course - from a team within the BBC that knows about these things - in sustainability, or more specifically how to avoid the many and varied pitfalls of claiming to be green, when you're anything but. You see, finding high-quality carbon offsets can be a bit of a minefield and simply getting the event rubber stamped by a third party isn’t the way to go. Far better to scrutinise our own plans, to take a long hard look at the event and make efforts to reduce our carbon footprint wherever possible, within the real-world constraints of time, budget and technology. We purchased CO2 offsets from the airline for 16 return flights from London to Visby… before learning that in line with strict carbon accounting these weren’t submissible, so the flights couldn’t be deducted from our tCO2e (a unit that takes into account all greenhouse gases emitted and their global warming potential, and puts it into one easy unit) total. Damn. We sent 12 of the 15 contenders to Sweden on a pair of Scania transporter trucks capable of running on HVO (Hydro-treated Vegetable Oil). We ran all the combustion engine cars on Sustain Classic Super 80 biofuel, supplied to us by Coryton. All the energy used to charge the EV contenders came from entirely renewable sources, specifically the energy produced on-site at the Gotland Ring by seven wind turbines. In the spirit of using locally-sourced ingredients we procured electric CAKE bikes and plug-in Volvos as our photography support vehicles… and self-catered, with mixed results. You can pore over the calculations in full in the latest issue of the magazine, but the take-home was this: it’s not an exact science, many lessons were learned for how to reduce our footprint in the future, but we proved it’s possible to still enjoy the cars we all love, while treading a little lighter on our planet. Stay tuned to TopGear.com for more Speed Week updates Link

Analysis: Republicans now use powerful procedural weapons — impeachment, removal of the speaker and election certification — to thwart majority rule and disrupt democratic institutions. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., speaks outside the Capitol after filing a resolution Monday to force a vote to overthrow Speaker Kevin McCarthy. It was inevitable that giving Rep. Matt Gaetz the procedural bazooka he demanded would end in the political annihilation of newly former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. For Gaetz — a 2020 election denier, a defender of the Jan. 6 insurrection and the subject of an ethics investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct, illicit drug use and more — rules seem to matter most when they benefit him. The animating tenet of his political ideology — a strain of the broader conservative bent against taxation and spending — is that the federal government works against the public interest because it is corrupt. Chaos feeds his narrative. McCarthy's substantive sins were avoiding a national default and a federal shutdown, which interfered with Gaetz's ability to demonstrate that the government is broken. So Gaetz, R-Fla., used his procedural weapon — the "motion to vacate" — to do the next best thing: He aligned with Democrats to throw the House into a state of anarchy. For one day, at least, Gaetz and his seven followers ruled the 433-member House. "To do this on the floor is embarrassing and does not give the American public much confidence in Republicans being able to govern," former Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, R-Ga., said in a text message. "This small group just voted WITH the Democrats while ousting the speaker because the Democrats voted WITH the speaker and the majority of Republicans to keep the government open." It "reminds me a lot about the Abbott and Costello routine 'who's on first?'" Westmoreland said. Comedy and comity aside, the Gaetz phenomenon is indicative of a much larger trend within the Republican Party and within the House: the use of emergency measures — the heaviest available political artillery — to thwart majority rule, disrupt democratic institutions and oust political opponents. The most obvious example of the trend, of course, is the Gaetz-supported effort by then-President Donald Trump to stop his 2020 defeat from being certified. Most House Republicans — 139 of them — objected to the certification after the Capitol was stormed. So did eight Senate Republicans. Impeachment, once a power as solemn as it was seldom-used, has become en vogue. In the first 209 years of the republic, the House voted on whether to impeach a president — Andrew Johnson — once. In the last quarter of a century, the House has voted to impeach the president three times: Bill Clinton once and Trump twice. President Joe Biden currently faces an impeachment inquiry. None of that includes dead-end efforts by lawmakers to impeach President George W. Bush or less formal calls for the impeachment of President Barack Obama. House Republicans launched an impeachment investigation into Biden this year without seeking the approval of the full House — because there weren't enough votes to support it. There are other ways Congress can rebuke a president, including through censure. Even witnesses called by the House GOP to testify have said there is not currently evidence that Biden committed high crimes or misdemeanors. But the motion to vacate the speaker's chair may have undergone the most peculiar perversion of intent in terms of a small minority taking control. The power originates in President Thomas Jefferson's manual, which was adopted as the base House rulebook in 1837. With little other guidance, it allowed for a majority of representatives to vote to remove the speaker. But aside from the time Speaker Joe Cannon initiated and defeated a motion to remove himself — to show he still had power in the wake of a 1910 rebellion — it lay dormant. The rules around a vacancy in the speakership began to change after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist assault on the U.S. because lawmakers feared that another attack could leave the House inoperable in a time of crisis or even leave the position second in line to the presidency open. One new feature was the list of successors a speaker delivers to the clerk of the House — McCarthy named Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., the new interim speaker — in the event of a vacancy. Rather than seeing the vacancy rule as a necessary security measure, ultraconservative House Republicans began to view it as a tool for applying pressure to the speaker to bow to their demands. For a period of time, a motion to vacate the speakership required a majority of the House majority caucus. Then-Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., who would go on to become one of Trump's White House chiefs of staff and who is under indictment for his role in the effort to overturn the 2020 election, helped push then-Speaker John Boehner of Ohio from office in 2015 by threatening to vacate the chair. In a major concession to the Gaetz faction, McCarthy, R-Calif., had agreed at the beginning of this Congress to force a vote to vacate whenever a single member called for one. As the vote Tuesday demonstrated, the vast majority of Republicans wanted to keep McCarthy in power. And while it technically required a majority of the House, it's hard to imagine a time when the minority party would not gleefully stand with a rebel faction to oust the majority party's speaker. There are, after all, limits to a minority party's willingness to provide political aid to the majority. Many Republicans would now like to put the weapon away. But as the impeachment and motion-to-vacate examples show, it's hard to stop using a bazooka once it has been fired. This trend is obvious to both Democrats and Republicans. "Impeachment may have become the new censure," Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., said. "And apparently MTV is the new way to re-litigate a speaker's election," he added, using the abbreviation for motion to vacate. Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., traced the roots back almost 30 years, to the time when Republicans took control of the House for the first time in four decades. "Since the moment Newt Gingrich ascended to the speakership three decades ago, we have seen one of the two major parties completely abandon any commitment to the norms," Boyle said. "After the 2010 Tea Party wave, that rejection of the norms accelerated. Then, from Trump on, the rejection has gone on steroids," he said. "Government shutdowns, debt default crises, rash impeachments, once-in-a-century multi-round speaker's votes and now [Tuesday], a historic first ever — all are part and parcel of this." Rep. Dan Goldman, of New York, who was the lead counsel in the Democratic-led impeachment of Trump over his withholding of funds for Ukraine, drew distinctions between the Trump impeachments and the GOP inquiry into Biden. The Trump cases were based on evidence of actions — such as Trump's phone call with Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy and his efforts to stop the certification of electors — while there is no evidence to date of similar actions by Biden, Goldman said. "What we have now is an effort, fomented by Donald Trump, to get retribution against President Biden and to avenge his two impeachments," Goldman said, noting that McCarthy launched the inquiry without a vote of the full House after saying he would not do so. But McCarthy had little choice if he wanted to remain speaker. He had handed the power to remove the speaker to every small band of recalcitrants on every issue. It only took about nine months for Gaetz to figure out how to use the weapon. Link

New research suggests that high-density lipoprotein, or HDL cholesterol, is much more complex than previously thought. So-called “good” HDL cholesterol may not be as healthy as experts once thought, a new study suggests. The new study, published Wednesday in Neurology, found that having either high or low levels of high-density lipoprotein, or HDL, cholesterol, may increase the risk of dementia in older adults. It’s more evidence showing that keeping HDL cholesterol within a certain range is important for cardiovascular and brain health. “The relationship between HDL cholesterol and dementia is more complex than we previously thought," said the study’s lead author, Erin Ferguson, a doctoral student studying epidemiology at the University of California San Francisco. "While the magnitude of this relationship is relatively small, it’s important,” The results show a correlation between HDL cholesterol and dementia, but do not prove that low or high levels of the lipid directly caused dementia. The study, which was supported by the National Institute on Aging and the National Institutes of Health, included more than 184,000 adults with an average age of 70. None had dementia when the study began. Researchers used a combination of surveys and electronic records from the Kaiser Permanente Northern California health plan to track cholesterol levels, health behaviors and whether someone developed dementia over about 13 years. During that time, just more than 25,000 people developed dementia. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends people keep their total cholesterol at about 150 mg/dL, or milligrams per deciliter of blood, with LDL at or below 100 mg/dL. Low-density lipoprotein, or LDL, cholesterol, has long been recognized for its often deadly impact on the cardiovascular system. The study’s participants were divided into three groups based on their HDL cholesterol levels, with adjustments for other dementia risk factors, including high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes and how often a person drinks. What is a healthy level of HDL? The average HDL cholesterol level in the study was 53.7 mg/dL, within the recommended range of 40 mg/dL in men and 50 mg/dL in women. People whose cholesterol levels strayed too far from these numbers were more likely to develop dementia over the course of the study. People whose levels were at least 65 mg/dL — the highest of the three groups — were 15% more likely to develop dementia. Those with the lowest levels — 11 to 41 mg/dL — had a 7% increased risk compared to the middle group. The researchers didn’t find any association between LDL cholesterol and dementia risk. Dr. Howard Weintraub, clinical director of the Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease at NYU Langone Heart in New York, said he was surprised by the findings. “When people have HDL that’s 90 or 100 mg/dL, that is associated with dementia. But not these lower numbers, 63 mg/dL or so,” said Weintraub, who was not involved with the research. Experts have long understood that not all HDL cholesterol is equal. How the body uses it and where it’s stored –– in the brain or elsewhere in the body –– make a difference. How to improve HDL Healthy habits, including exercise, allow HDL cholesterol to become HDL particles. This allows HDL to perform some of the important tasks it’s touted for, including removing LDL cholesterol from the arteries and transporting it to the liver, where the body gets rid of it, said Dr. Hussein Yassine, an endocrinologist at the Keck Medicine of USC who specializes in how changes in lipid metabolism impact a person’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. “The function is really in the particles, not the cholesterol itself,” he said. “Simply increasing HDL levels does not increase its function.” High HDL cholesterol levels can stiffen veins and arteries. This impact on the cardiovascular system is a key way high levels of HDL cholesterol may increase risk of cognitive impairment –– stroke is one of the leading risk factors for dementia. HDL cholesterol in the brain acts in a completely different way. “It operates on different rules and has different pathways than systemic cholesterol,” Yassine said. Systemic cholesterol is cholesterol stored elsewhere in the body, outside the brain. Too much HDL cholesterol in the brain can cause inflammation that prompts the brain to produce amyloids, abnormal deposits that damage organs and tissues, he added. Another recent study established a connection between genes linked to high HDL cholesterol levels and those that predispose someone to dementia. Together, the studies point to the fact that HDL cholesterol is both complex and an area of research that needs to be better understood. Weintraub said there isn’t yet enough evidence to say that HDL cholesterol plays a significant role in dementia risk “This paper might suggest that HDL could be a modifiable risk factor even in late life,” Ferguson said. “But I wouldn’t say that people have to be worried about this just yet.” Link

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Nick movie: Big Hero 6 Time: October 23, 2014 Netflix / Amazon / HBO: N/A Duration of the movie: 102 M Trailer:

Video title: UNUSUAL MEMES COMPILATION V238 Content creator ( Youtuber ) :UnusualVideos Official YT video:

Skoda lops a full second off electric flagship’s 0-62mph time, adds a bit more range, too Skoda has revealed an uprated version of its very uprated Enyaq vRS. And what was already the fastest accelerating Skoda ever built is now… yeah, still the fastest accelerating Skoda ever built. Where before the Enyacc could do a measly 0-62mph in 6.5s – bah, pedestrian pace! – it’ll now do it in 5.5s. That’s old BMW M3 territory, in a family SUV or Coupe. If you’re new to 2023, welcome! Nothing makes sense anymore! We’re told the improvement in pace is courtesy of a recalibration of both front and rear motors and new power management software that has liberated an additional 40bhp from the Enyakk’s powertrain, bumping total power to 335bhp. Again, this figure is the highest ever for a production Skoda. These changes not only give the Enyack more acceleration, but also a bit more range and a faster charging time. To the former, there’s now a “provisional” 340-mile WLTP figure quoted (a 16-mile increase for the Coupe, 15 more for the SUV), and it’ll now go from 10-80 per cent on a 175kW charger in 28 minutes. That’s eight minutes faster. Other tweaks for the Enyaque include more driver assistance, more USB-C ports, more, um, rear window blinds and more... tow bar prep. The infotainment’s apparently been tweaked too, Skoda promising easier to use screens. There are new graphics and animations for the driver’s display, too. The faster, more acceleratey new Enyacckkque will be available to order later this month. Whether it makes it more interesting however, is another matter. Link

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., forced the vote after McCarthy passed a bill to keep the government funded. Gaetz and seven other Republicans, along with all Democrats, voted to remove him. WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives on Tuesday took the unprecedented step of ousting a speaker from office, nearly nine months after Kevin McCarthy won the powerful gavel in a dramatic 15-round floor fight. The vote was 216-210, to topple the California Republican, who continued to insist to the bitter end that he would "never give up." After the vote, the office of the speaker of the House — and the second rung on the ladder of succession to the U.S. presidency — was declared vacant. All 208 Democrats teamed up with just eight GOP rebels to vacate the speaker’s chair — the first time in U.S. history that lawmakers have formally voted to remove a sitting speaker in the middle of a term. An overwhelming number of Republicans, 210, voted to keep McCarthy in power, but it was not enough to stop the effort led by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., who for weeks has accused McCarthy of breaking promises to conservatives to cut spending. “We heard Speaker McCarthy say that he wanted us to ‘Bring it on!’ So I guess we did,” Gaetz told reporters after the successful vote. Follow along for live updates. The historic vote threw the GOP-controlled House into chaos as lawmakers struggled to figure out what to do next. The session ended with another surprise: It was announced that Financial Services Chair Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., a top McCarthy ally, is now the speaker pro tempore, put on a secret list McCarthy provided to the clerk in January in the event of a vacancy. After assuming the speaker's chair, where he'll serve in an interim capacity, McHenry slammed down the gavel in anger. In a private meeting after the vote, McCarthy told GOP colleagues that he would not run for speaker again given that he didn’t have the support to overcome his political foes. Gaetz walks away after speaking to reporters Monday on the steps of the Capitol after filing the resolution to overthrow McCarthy. Before the vote, a parade of top McCarthy allies rose to speak in favor of keeping McCarthy. House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y. called McCarthy a "happy warrior" who has a "uniquely American grit," while Rep. Garret Graves, R-La., praised him as "the greatest speaker in modern history." “I recognize that my friends on the other side have a very complex set of partisan, personal and political calculations to make — and I certainly wouldn’t presume to give them any advice about that,” Rules Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., a top McCarthy ally who tried unsuccessfully to block Gaetz’s effort, warned on the floor before the vote. “But I would say, ‘Think long and hard before you plunge us into chaos. Because that’s where we’re headed if we vacate the speakership.’” Cole received big applause and a standing ovation from almost the entire GOP side of the chamber as he finished speaking. Gaetz countered from the Democratic side of the aisle because Republicans had blocked him from the three GOP microphones on the floor, he said. “Chaos is Speaker McCarthy. Chaos is somebody who we cannot trust with their word," Gaetz said, retorting Cole. "I don’t think voting against Kevin McCarthy is chaos. I think $33 trillion in debt is chaos. I think that facing a $2.2 trillion annual deficit is chaos.” For weeks, Gaetz had threatened to call a vote to expel McCarthy if he passed a short-term government funding bill relying on Democratic votes. When McCarthy did just that last weekend to avert a shutdown, Gaetz moved against him. Under House rules, McCarthy had until Wednesday to take up the resolution that Gaetz, a conservative Florida Republican and Donald Trump loyalist, filed Monday night. But McCarthy and his allies moved to rip off the Band-Aid and quickly take on the so-called motion to vacate that has consumed the Capitol. “I get politics. I understand where people are,” McCarthy told reporters. But he added: “I truly believe the institution of the House, at the end of the day, if you throw a speaker out that has 99% of their conference, that kept government open and paid the troops, I think we’re in a really bad place.” Along with Gaetz, seven other Republicans voted with all of the Democrats to depose McCarthy: former conservative Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Biggs and Rep. Eli Crane, both of Arizona; Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee; Rep. Bob Good of Virginia; swing district Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina; and Rep. Matt Rosendale of Montana. "I would give him deference to be able to decide whether or not he'd like to put himself forward as a candidate," he added. "But he'd be the type of person that I could see myself supporting." McCarthy's allies showed a range of emotions after his removal. Rep. Stephanie Bice, R-Okla., wiped away tears with a tissue on the House floor, while others privately vented in the halls to reporters. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., a McCarthy ally who has publicly clashed with Gaetz, urged the ousted speaker to run again. "No one has come forward and no one has shown any interest in running for speaker," Greene said. "No one has the support in the conference like Kevin McCarthy does, so that's been my question the entire time: What's the plan? And there's not a plan." Link

Rishi Sunak is to announce the scrapping of the HS2 high-speed rail line from West Midlands to Manchester on Wednesday, the BBC understands. In his Conservative Party conference speech, the PM is expected to set out a range of alternative projects in the north of England and Wales. He is likely to argue these projects will be better value for money and can be delivered more quickly. It comes after weeks of speculation about the future of the line. Rumours it could be scrapped have already prompted anger among local leaders and businesses. Labour Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said ditching the Manchester link would be a "permanent statement" to people in the North that they were ''second-class citizens' when it came to transport. The Conservative West Midlands Mayor Andy Street, who on Monday called an impromptu press conference at the party conference to warn Mr Sunak that getting rid of HS2 would amount to "cancelling the future", is said to be distraught by the news of the prime minister's decision. The football club Manchester United was among 30 businesses who wrote to the prime minister urging him to commit to the line and avoid "economic self-sabotage". It was hoped the line would cut journey times, create more space on the rail network and boost jobs outside London. However, there had been concerns about the mounting costs of the infrastructure project, with the latest estimates for the project amounting to about £71bn. But, that was in 2019 prices so it does not account for the spike in costs for materials and wages, for example, in recent months. Last month Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said it would be "crazy" not to review the project, particularly given the rise in inflation. Deputy chair of the Conservative Party Lee Anderson has described HS2 as "a bad gamble". Rishi Sunak with his staff the day before his speech to the party conference in Manchester The route was initially proposed in 2010, and given the go-ahead in 2012, when then-Transport Secretary Justine Greening called it "the most significant transport infrastructure project since the building of the motorways". There have already been delays, disruption, a big cut to HS2's Eastern leg, and salami slicing on HS2 - but this latest decision would change the project and its outcomes beyond recognition. At least £22.5bn has already been spent building the London-Birmingham section, while £2.3bn has gone towards the second phase, on things such buying up land and property. Thirty-thousand people are already working on HS2, mostly in the supply chain. There are also people whose lives have already been uprooted by property purchases along the planned HS2 route north of Birmingham. If Mr Sunak announces that HS2 trains will go to Manchester using existing tracks, it follows that no extra space would be created and journey time benefits would be reduced. In recent days, there have been suggestions that instead of building HS2, money could be put towards improving rail east-west links across the north of England. For example, Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) aims to improve connections between Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool. However, the project has been designed to intersect with HS2, using a section of the high speed line, and if HS2 does not continue to Manchester this would increase the costs of NPR. A group of Conservative MPs, called the Northern Research Group, have called for a line connecting Liverpool to Hull, which they've named "the Charles Line" after the King. Mr Sunak will be delivering his conference speech at a tricky time for the Conservatives, who have been lagging behind Labour in the polls for over a year. Speaking from the Manchester Central Convention Complex - an old railway turned into a conference venue - he will tell the audience that he is the man to "fundamentally change our country". It is likely to be his last conference speech before the next general election and his team will hope that it can help change the fortunes of the prime minister and his party. Link

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Nick movie: Ant-Man Time: June 29, 2015 Netflix / Amazon / HBO: N/A Duration of the movie: 117 M Trailer:

Many of the dogs have become unsung heroes of missions in Mexico and abroad, and their training starts early in life, about a month after birth, and it's all taught as a game. A Belgian Malinois puppy licks the face of the soldier carrying it back to its kennel after a training session at the Mexican Army and Air Force Canine Production Center in San Miguel de los Jagueyes, Mexico, on Sept. 26, 2023. SAN MIGUEL DE LOS JAGÜEYEZ, Mexico — In the middle of a military base outside Mexico City, an army colonel runs what he calls a kindergarten for dogs. Puppies that one day will become rescue dogs, or sniffer dogs for drugs or explosives, get their basic training here, at Mexico’s Army and Air Force Canine Production Center. The puppies are born and spend their first four months at the facility, before being sent to military units around the country for more specialized training. Founded in 1998, the center has in the past produced breeds such as German Shepherds and Rottweilers. Now, it exclusively breeds Belgian Malinois — about 300 of them a year. “It’s a very intelligent dog, it’s a dog with a lot of hardiness, very resistant to diseases,” said Col. Alejandro Camacho Ibarra, a veterinarian and the center’s director. It is the Mexican military’s only such production facility, and Camacho said it may be the largest in Latin America. The mainly green-and-white, one-story buildings look like any others at the military camp in the State of Mexico, near Mexico City. But the difference here is in the sounds that fill the air: high-pitch barking from dozens of puppies scattered through its maternities and training camps. Belgian Malinois puppies rest at the Mexican Army and Air Force Canine Production Center in San Miguel de los Jagueyes, Mexico, on Sept. 26, 2023. Precautions here are strict because of a recent canine parvovirus outbreak that sickened some of the puppies. Visitors are disinfected with a spray, and must step into a watery solution to clean shoe soles. Only military personnel can touch the puppies. If you want to get close, you need to wear scrubs, shoe protectors and a mask, but you still cannot hold or pet the animals. The training starts early in life, about a month after birth once the weaning process finishes. And everything is taught as a game. “We start playing with the dog,” Camacho said. The idea is to draw them to items that trainers call “attractors” — like a ball or a rag — and puppies are challenged to catch them. “Every time it holds his prey, it’s rewarded, congratulated, and it learns to go after that prey, after that attractor,” Camacho added. Unlike in civilian life, where puppies often get food treats, in the military the only prize for a job well done is a caress and some praise. In one section of the camp, there’s a trail with obstacles including rocks, a tunnel, a section of empty plastic bottles to clamber over, a ladder and tires. A soldier beckons the little dogs with a rag they must capture. The brown puppies with black snouts begin running through the trail, jumping over the rocks and crossing the obstacles. One takes the lead and the second struggles to cross over the plastic bottles, but also finishes. Both go to bite the rag the soldier holds. “Very, very good, sons! Very good, boys,” he repeats while dragging the puppies as they maintain their grasp on the rag for several moments. Camacho explains that the puppies are known by a number until they are three months old, when they are given a proper name. Each year, the center gives names according to a single letter of the alphabet. In 2023, that letter is “F.” Febo, Frodo, Fósil, Forraje and Fido are some of this year’s names. The basic training ends when the puppies are 4 months old. Then, they move to other military units to become specialists in detection of drugs or explosive, in search and rescue or in protection and security. The current government of Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has relied heavily on the armed forces for various initiatives, from public safety to the building of airports and a tourist train line. And K-9 units have been a key element of some of the military’s activities, like the detection of drugs. Col. Camacho said that some dogs born at the center have been trained to detect fentanyl, a synthetic opioid trafficked by Mexican cartels that has been blamed for about 70,000 overdose deaths per year in the United States. A soldier trains Belgian Malinois puppies at the Mexican Army and Air Force Canine Production Center in San Miguel de los Jagueyes, Mexico, on Sept. 26, 2023. That kind of specialized training happens elsewhere, but the colonel says it builds on his center’s basic training by using “attractor” objects but having them impregnated with the scent of what the dogs need to track, such as a drug. Dogs retire from their military service after eight years, Camacho says. Many of the dogs have become unsung heroes of missions in Mexico and abroad. Occasionally they become publicly known, like a German Shepherd named Proteo who was part of a rescue team sent in February to Turkey after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake that killed more than 40,000 people. Proteo died during the search for survivors of the quake. A statue of him now stands at the center. Another dog that made headlines in Mexico and abroad was a yellow Labrador retriever rescue dog named Frida. The Navy dog gained fame in the days following Mexico’s Sept. 19, 2017, earthquake that left more than 300 dead in the capital. She retired in 2019 and died in 2022. Col. Camacho said that the dogs have a symbiotic relationship with their handlers during their working life in the military. “The dog uses us to survive, but we also use the dog to do a job,” he said. “So it’s a coordinated work where we both get a benefit.” Link